Monday, February 27, 2012

Whenever I ask someone for an interview I'm always wondering how they'll respond. Will they feel obligated to do it to promote an upcoming production, or will they be outright rude and flatly say no (I've had a few of those responses in my time).

Then there's the actors who embrace the chance to be interviewed and really give some great responses.

If only all the interviews were as great as this one.

I give you, my interview with Angela Oberer.

1. What is it about acting that appeals to you?

I was doing some research on a movie set and was interviewing actors for an article I was writing, when I realized that all of the actors I was speaking with were progressive people. Meaning they were taking classes to learn new dialects and new languages. They were learning fun things like shooting firearms, tap dancing, swimming, Frisbee throwing, Karate, horseback riding, piano and crocheting. And I wondered how come none of my friends were learning those things – so I switched my friends and became an actress and enrolled in some fun classes and started learning how it feels to be an actress. Every day is filled with new things.

2. What made you want to become an actress?

Growing up, story time was a big part of our day. Mom read to us, until we were old enough to read to each other and to ourselves.We loved to hear stories. We loved to read stories and we loved to watch them on TV and at the movie theatres.Acting lets me tell stories on the screen and it is the best job I’ve ever had.

3. Have you done stage production before, and if so how did you find it?

When we were young (and I have 12 brothers and 6 sisters) our family played and performed a lot of music. We made up these zany little programs that included poems, skits and songs and we entertained lots of elderly people at assisted living centers, church events, and hospitals. We had a couple of scripted programs we performed but they were not “plays” in the traditional sense of the word. And it’s not really about how we found out about them, it was more of how did they find out about us, because it seemed like we were always performing somewhere.

Then there were all these old people that kept requesting that we come “perform” at their funerals when they die, and so our youth was spent entertaining people until they died, and then singing sad songs once they passed, to send them to heaven.

4. Please describe what it’s like doing horror films.

Horror films give me nightmares. They scare me terribly, and once I’ve seen a horror movie, the images stay in my head and keep scaring me again and again, when I think about them – even during the day time with the lights on.I never wanted to be in a horror movie, until I met Ti West who directed Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, and has since gone on to create some more wonderfully scary movies. I just wanted the chance to work with him and when I got to set, the crew was so awesome that Showing up to work every day on the set was like a big party. I just love those guys.

5. What would be your ideal role?

The next one? (Laughing) I like playing different roles because it allows me through acting to be somebody different for a while. I get to dress like somebody else, wear somebody else’s clothes, walk and talk like somebody else, and learn how other people deal with difficult situations.

6. What’s coming up next?

I’ve just been cast as a waitress who works at a restaurant where famous people come to dine. And in the movie I’m not supposed to be star struck, but I think I am a tiny bit when a big shot movie star comes into dine with his wife – exciting story. We begin filming in a couple of weeks. Woohoo!

7. Is there a particular charity you would like to bring to my readers’ attention?

Corazon de Vida http://www.corazondevida.org/ is a very dear to my heart. It is a US-based non-profit organization supporting Baja orphanages. It provides children in dire need the necessities of shelter, food, clothing, education, and healthcare – as well as hope, compassion and love. As we get older, hopefully we can all take care of ourselves, but there will always be a need to help take care of others as well.

To check out more of Angela's work and upcoming productions I strongly suggest you visit www.angelaoberer.com/It's pretty darn cool!Angela was also nice enough to provide this little snippet.

Short Bio: Angela Oberer (O-bur-er) is an American Actress who loves to share stories through television and films. You can learn more about her on at www.IMDB.me/AngelaOberer

Thanks to Angela for being so great with this interview. I wish you all the very best.

Monday, February 20, 2012

I've previously interviewed Keith and he was a lot of fun and had a lot of interesting things to discuss.

This time.. well.

Read on and enjoy...

1. Dexter the Robot was loved Australia-wide on the set of Perfect Match. How come no one picked him as their perfect match?

Unfortunately no-one ever picked Dexter – not even the occasional girl who was into heavy metal in those days.

2. Who would you select as Dexter’s perfect match?

Dexter’s perfect match back then? Probably Maggie Thatcher (“iron lady” and at the time the British PM)

3. What was it like to work on the set of Perfect Match? Is there any behind-the-scenes stories you can tell us about?

It was a lot of fun working on the set. I was originally hired as the voice of Dexter and the show’s booth announcer. I’d worked for Grundy’s four years earlier on a short-lived comedy game-show called CELEBRITY TATTLETALES, hosted by Ugly Dave Gray. For that show I was hired as the announcer, but on the first night they very sneakily informed the studio audience that I was a stand-up comic impressionist, so I ended up doing all the audience warm-ups for that show. Well, somebody at Grundy’s was keeping notes, because on PERFECT MATCH they did the exact same thing. From the first night for three full years, I had to keep two audiences amused for a total of five hours a night. (The first audience saw the first two shows, then a second audience took their place to watch the last three – we always recorded a week’s worth of shows – five episodes - in one night).

It quickly became apparent that between doing the robot voice and the audience comedy routines, I was getting overworked, so they brought in Max Rowley to do all the show’s ”straight” announcing. I used to have a lot of fun with the audience because they deliberately left my microphone “open” for the whole night. If there were technical breakdowns...and there were, with all the contestants’ mikes and other effects....I could jump in with jokes about the contestants (the very “up-themselves” ones always suffered some sarcastic putdowns by me which really amused the big studio crowd). Or I would just throw in jokes, voice impressions, sound effects or whatever. It was a hard slog in many ways, but the experience I gained was great. Incidentally the squeaky, fast voice of Dexter was my idea: when I did the audition in November 1983, the executive producer said, “We want something modern.” I had no idea what that meant, but at the time the biggest thing in movies was THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK – so I based it on the squeaky sounds emanating from R2D2 and just added words; at first I thought of a big deep voice like the robot in the old LOST IN SPACE show, but when I saw that Dexter was short and squat I thought of the STAR WARS connection!

4. Your voice work and the characters you’ve portrayed have made you a national icon. How do I go about nominating you as the next Australian Of The Year?

I would make a bad Australian of the Year – my natural inclination to satire and send-ups would mean I could never play by any committee rules....but I’m certainly flattered you would ask!!

Thanks again Keith. You're a stand-up bloke and a lot of fun to interview.I'll hold off on that Australian Of The Year nomination though. :)

I interviewed Neil in June of 2010, little realising that he had provided the voice of Morocco Mole.

So you just know I had to interview him again!

I hope you enjoy my follow-up interview with... Neil Ross.

1. I noticed that the voice of Morocco Mole is both a low and high pitch. Had you had any formal voice training?

Morocco Mole’s voice is basically an imitation of Peter Lorre’s voice. Lorre’s voice had both highs and lows. Also, the character has been voiced by different actors so the sound has changed from time to time. I have done a number of voice-over and animation workshops over the years. That’s about the only ‘formal’ voice training I’ve had.

2. Can you describe the difference between voice acting now, as opposed to the 60’s and 70’s.

I suppose the biggest change in animation is that they no longer insist that the full cast be present for each recording session. That was the rule in the eighties and early nineties. Nowadays most of the time I work alone and they piece it together with the other performances. Games are the same. You work those solo most of the time.

3. Are you a fan of the properties you did work for, such as Spider-Man, Volton, and Secret Squirrel?

I’m not sure that I ever worked on Secret Squirrel. As far as the other shows are concerned I’m proud to have been a part of these projects but I don’t sit around and watch them. The work is the fun part for me. But I’m very gratified to have been a part of some shows that many people remember fondly.

4. Did you have any insight into how the characters you voiced came across in the final product?As you may know, the voices are recorded before the animation is produced. Sometimes we’re told that the animators are influenced by the voice work and change the character to reflect what they hear. So sometimes we have more of an influence on the finished product than we realize.

5. What prep work do you do before taking on a voice acting job?

I do whatever I can. Some shows send a script and/or a story board in advance. If that happens I’ll go over it of course. But if I don’t receive anything in advance, I just get in the car and drive to the studio. Fortunately I’m a pretty quick study.

6. Have you attended any conventions, such as the San Diego Comic Con?

I’ve been on Mark Evanier’s cartoon voice-over panel at Comic Con three times. Last year I appeared at BotCon in Pasadena.

I want to thank Neil for once again doing an interview with me. He's a top bloke to interview. He's also a busy man working on many cool cartoons and video games. If you ever get a chance, give him a shout-out.

And whilst you're at it, feel free to leave a comment.Until next time.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Interviewing movie stars and TV stars, singers and so forth is all well and good, but there are times I just get a real kick out of interviewing true-blue heroes.

You know, the guys who actually make a difference in the world, rather than simply entertaining the world.

So it is my great pleasure to bring you my interview with author and Space Advocate, Ed Buckbee.

1. Why space? What excites you about space?

Space is the last frontier, where man can explore and learn to live and work. To explore space is challenging and it requires creative thinking and innovation.The fact that we explore space for peaceful purposes excites me and we are the ONLY country to send man out of earth orbit and land man on the moon. The opportunity to continue human exploration of space beyond earth orbit, excites me.

2. How did the idea of Space Camp come about?

Wernher von Braun was the visionary who came forth with the idea of a Space Camp. I was given that challenge to design, develop and manage it. It was our plan to keep the dream of human space flight alive by sharing the excitement of space exploration with the younger generation.

3. How has the field of science changed, when looking at space, over the last few generations?

Because of our success in space exploration, science has become much more friendly. We expect breakthroughs and advancements in the fields of communication, medical, meteorology and transportation, to name a few. We are no longer satisfied with status quo.

4. The world has only recently come together as a joint effort to explore space. How has this changed what you do as a space advocate?

In the old days, we were in competition, particularly with the Soviet Union. Today, we welcome twelve international partners on our International Space Station. That is a huge change in our thinking and I hope it continues. I'm one who believes we should be cooperating with China. We could began that relationship by encouraging them to use a common docking adapter that would permit any spacecraft--U. S., Russia or Chinese-- to dock together in the event of an emergency in space. As I speak about space exploration, more and more people support flying in space together. I don't think I will live to see it, but I hope one of my Space Camp alumni is a member of the international crew that lands on Mars.

5. What is the next big thing the general public can expect from space exploration?

I hope it is the landing of Curiosity, the rover on Mars. It's the size of a small SUV. Should be a spectacular mission. The Space Launch System (SLS), our new rocket and replacement for space shuttle, is now in design by the team that was trained by Wernher von Braun. This new rocket is more like the Saturn V moon rocket of my generation.

6. What is the time-frame in which you think this will happen?

They expect the new rocket to be operational by 2017. That is a difficult challenge but hopefully it will be flying and man-rated for a moon mission in the 2020 time frame.

I want to thank Ed for his envaluable time with this interview and for his thought-provoking responses.If you'd like to read more about Ed and the work he is undertaking I suggest you check out the following sitehttp://www.air-space.com/EB.htmEd's also on Twitter, athttp://twitter.com/realspacecowboyPlease let me know what you thought of this interview by commenting below.Until next time.